# Bernard Fox (actor)
**Bernard Fox** was the stage name of Bernard Mitchell Lawson (11 May 1927 – 14 December 2016), a Welsh character actor best known to television audiences as the warlock physician Dr. Bombay on the comedy *Bewitched* and as Colonel Crittendon on *Hogan's Heroes*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox). Over a screen career running from 1956 to 2004 he appeared in some 30 films, including two productions about the sinking of RMS *Titanic*, and made guest appearances on dozens of American television series[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bernard Mitchell Lawson, born 11 May 1927 in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/) |
| Signature TV roles | Dr. Bombay on *Bewitched* (1964–1972); Colonel Crittendon on *Hogan's Heroes* (1965–1971)[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) |
| *Titanic* roles | A lookout sailor delivering "Iceberg dead ahead, sir!" in *A Night to Remember* (1958); Colonel Archibald Gracie IV in *Titanic* (1997)[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) |
| Screen output | About 30 films from 1956 to 2004; more than 100 combined TV and film credits[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) • [3](https://www.thewrap.com/bernard-fox-bewitched-and-titanic-actor-dies-at-89/) |
| Voice work | The Chairmouse in Disney's *The Rescuers* (1977) and *The Rescuers Down Under* (1990)[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) • [4](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/bernard-fox?context.unit=HC) |
| Wartime service | Royal Navy minesweeper crewman during the last two years of World War II[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/) |
| Death | 14 December 2016, of heart failure, in Van Nuys, California, aged 89[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/) • [5](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernard-fox-who-played-dr-bombay-on-bewitched-dead-at-89/) |
## Early life and stage career
Fox was born into a performing family in [Port Talbot](https://www.edgepedia.org/port-talbot), Glamorgan, Wales, to stage-actor parents; TheWrap described him as a fifth-generation performer and noted that his uncle was the actor Wilfred Lawson, who starred in [George Bernard Shaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-bernard-shaw)'s *Pygmalion*[3](https://www.thewrap.com/bernard-fox-bewitched-and-titanic-actor-dies-at-89/). He began his entertainment career at the age of 18 months, and by 14 he was an assistant manager of a theater[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox).
During the last two years of World War II he served in the [Royal Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-navy) on a minesweeper[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/). After the war he moved to London to work in theater, and in 1952 he joined the ensemble of [Brian Rix](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-rix)'s Whitehall Farces, appearing as one of the "Reluctant Heroes" and the "Simple Spymen"; his biographical profile on IMDb suggests he developed his stock-in-trade persona of the stiff-upper-lip or bumbling British gentleman around this time[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/). By the mid-1950s he was taking parts in British television and film, including *Home and Away* (1956) and *The Counterfeit Plan* (1957)[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bernard_fox).
## Television
By the mid-1960s Fox was working regularly on American television, where his height of 6 feet half an inch (1.84 m), mustache, and Welsh-accented delivery made him a familiar presence in British-gentleman parts[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/). His two most durable roles both aired in the late 1960s. On *Bewitched* (ABC, 1964–1972) he played Dr. Bombay, the warlock physician summoned by Samantha to treat supernatural illnesses; before being cast in that part, he had appeared on the same show as a professional witch debunker[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox). On *Hogan's Heroes* (CBS, 1965–1971) he played the naive, bumbling Colonel Crittendon, a British prisoner of war whose escape plans never quite succeeded; the character was actually an RAF Group Captain, though always addressed as Colonel[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) • [7](https://www.tvline.com/news/bernard-fox-dead-dies-bewitched-hogans-heroes-777309/).
He also played Malcolm Merriweather, an English tourist who works off a traffic accident as Andy's valet, in *The Andy Griffith Show*, and guested on *The Dick Van Dyke Show*, *F Troop*, *Perry Mason*, *McHale's Navy*, *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*, *I Dream of Jeannie*, *M*A*S*H*, *Columbo*, *Knight Rider*, *Murder, She Wrote*, and *Dharma and Greg*, among others[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) • [8](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/bernard-fox/umc.cpc.1wv09ejkdrr7hmr70e8o1hras).
**Returning to Dr. Bombay.** Fox came back to his best-known character repeatedly. He played Dr. Bombay in two episodes of the 1977–78 *Bewitched* spinoff *Tabitha*, and again in 1999 on the NBC daytime soap *Passions*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) • [7](https://www.tvline.com/news/bernard-fox-dead-dies-bewitched-hogans-heroes-777309/). In 1989 he spoofed the role as a "wish doctor" for genies in an episode of *Pee-wee's Playhouse*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox).
## Film
Fox's film work ran from 1956 to 2004 and included supporting parts in broad comedies such as *[Yellowbeard](https://www.edgepedia.org/yellowbeard)*, *Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo* (as Max), and *The Private Eyes*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox) • [8](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/bernard-fox/umc.cpc.1wv09ejkdrr7hmr70e8o1hras). He appeared in two productions about the *Titanic* sinking: in the 1958 British film *A Night to Remember* he played a lookout sailor who called "Iceberg dead ahead, sir!" from the crow's nest, and in [James Cameron](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-cameron)'s 1997 Oscar-winning *Titanic* he played Colonel Archibald Gracie IV[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox). In the 1999 adventure film *The Mummy* he played Winston Havelock, a retired Air Force pilot[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox).
He also supplied the voice of the Chairmouse in the Disney animated features *The Rescuers* and *The Rescuers Down Under*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox). His final screen appearance came in 2004 in *Surge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox).
## Later career and death
In the late 1990s, already in his 70s, Fox had a late-career upsurge with parts in two of the decade's biggest blockbusters, *Titanic* and *The Mummy*[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bernard_fox). He retired from screen acting shortly after the turn of the century[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bernard_fox).
Fox died of heart failure on 14 December 2016 at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in [Van Nuys](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-nuys), California, at the age of 89[3](https://www.thewrap.com/bernard-fox-bewitched-and-titanic-actor-dies-at-89/) • [5](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernard-fox-who-played-dr-bombay-on-bewitched-dead-at-89/). He was survived by his wife Jacqueline, whom he married in 1961, and their two children[7](https://www.tvline.com/news/bernard-fox-dead-dies-bewitched-hogans-heroes-777309/).
## References
1. [Bernard Fox – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288882/bio/)
2. [Bernard Fox – Performer Biography, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/bernard-fox)
3. [Bernard Fox, 'Bewitched' and 'Titanic' Actor Dies at 89 – TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/bernard-fox-bewitched-and-titanic-actor-dies-at-89/)
4. [Bernard Fox Movies and TV Shows – Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/bernard-fox?context.unit=HC)
5. [Bernard Fox, who played Dr. Bombay on "Bewitched," dead at 89 – CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernard-fox-who-played-dr-bombay-on-bewitched-dead-at-89/)
6. [Bernard Fox Movies & TV Shows List – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bernard_fox)
7. [Bewitched's Bernard Fox Dead At 89 – TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/news/bernard-fox-dead-dies-bewitched-hogans-heroes-777309/)
8. [Bernard Fox Films and Shows – Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/bernard-fox/umc.cpc.1wv09ejkdrr7hmr70e8o1hras)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Welsh actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license